Consumer rights group Which? has hit Apple with a £3bn lawsuit for alleged breaches of UK competition law in relation to its Icloud services.
The group claims the US tech giant has been giving preferential treatment to its Icloud storage services and made it difficult for customers using Apple devices to access alternative data storage providers.
The claim, filed at the Competition Appeal Tribunal, alleges that customers are effectively trapped because Apple does not allow customers to store or back-up all of their phone’s data with a third-party provider. iOS users then have to pay for the service once they go over the free 5GB limit.
This lack of competition has led to consumers being overcharged each year on their monthly Icloud subscription fees, the group argued.
The lawsuit highlights that Apple has raised the price of Icloud for UK consumers by between 20 per cent and 29 per cent across its storage tiers in 2023.
Which? is now seeking damages for affected Apple customers that have obtained Icloud services since 1 October 2015. The group estimates that individual consumers could be owed an average of £70 depending on how long they have been paying for the services.
“We believe Apple customers are owed nearly £3 billion as a result of the tech giant forcing its iCloud services on customers and cutting off competition from rival services,” Anabel Hoult, chief executive of Which?, said. “By bringing this claim, Which? is showing big corporations like Apple that they cannot rip off UK consumers without facing repercussions.”
A similar case has already been commenced against Apple on this issue in the US but has not yet concluded.
Responding to the claim, an Apple spokesperson said: “Apple believes in providing our customers with choices. Our users are not required to use Icloud, and many rely on a wide range of third-party alternatives for data storage.”
“In addition, we work hard to make data transfer as easy as possible, whether it’s to Icloud or another service. We reject any suggestion that our Icloud practices are anti-competitive and will vigorously defend against any legal claim otherwise,” the spokesperson said.